politic

There are all kinds of internet laws; good ones, bad ones, and some that are just plain weird. The weird but true internet laws are what we are going to focus on today. These three laws come from all around the world, and can really make you shake your head in wonder at the sheer insanity of it all.

#1: It is illegal in the State of Tennessee (USA) to post/send “distressing” images using the internet

Yes, you heard that correctly. As of mid-2011 it is illegal to “transmit or display an image” anywhere online that is likely (yes, likely) to “frighten, intimidate, or cause emotional distress” to anyone who sees it. Yes, anyone, regardless of whether or not the person in question was the target of the image. This takes the crown for most ridiculous internet laws ever made! Under this law, anyone, from anywhere in the world, can see an image, and no matter what that image is depicting, or if the uploader even had an ulterior motive for posting it, if the image can be traced back to its user, they could face up to a year in jail and over two-thousand dollars in fines.

#2: It is illegal to own an “unregistered” modem in Burma

The Burmese government takes the internet very seriously… so much so that they have a stranglehold on internet access all throughout the country. Internet access is limited by means of hardware and software restrictions, i.e. unregistered modems. Visitors from outside of the country may bring a single laptop computer in with them, but it will have to be declared upon arrival, and it is safe to assume that every mouse click you make with it is being carefully watched.

#3: In Uxbridge, Ontario it’s illegal to have an internet connection faster than 56k!

This is a popular favorite online and can be validated in a number of places. This is one of those strange cases of severely out-dated laws that are still technically enforceable. It is comical to think of a place where it is illegal to have an internet connection that is faster than dial-up! Out of these three weird internet laws, this one has to win the award for most absurd.

And these are just the tip of the iceberg; there are many other strange but true internet laws on the books all around the world that make many people sit back and wonder what the heck these lawmakers were thinking when they wrote them and made them into law.